Evaporator integrated duct and refrigerator having the same

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to evaporators, and more particularly to an evaporator ( 10 ) having a duct integrated therewith, in which a circulating duct ( 20 ) and an evaporator ( 10 ) are mounted to an inner case like one body for reducing a performance deviation and working man-hours. To do this, the evaporator ( 10 ) having a duct integrated therewith includes an evaporator ( 10 ), and a circulating duct ( 20 ) including, a duct portion ( 30 ) for circulation of cold air, and a mounting portion ( 10 ) mounted to an inner case one body in a state the evaporator ( 10 ) is placed therein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to evaporators. More specifically, the present invention relates to an evaporator having a duct integrated therewith, in which a circulating duct and an evaporator are fabricated as one module for reducing an error caused by a worker, a performance deviation and working man-hours.

BACKGROUND ART

In general, the refrigerator is provided with a compressor for elevating a temperature and a pressure of low temperature, low pressure gaseous refrigerant to a high temperature and high pressure gaseous refrigerant, and a condenser for cooling and condensing the high temperature and high pressure gaseous refrigerant into liquidus refrigerant by using heat exchange with outdoor air.

In addition to this, the refrigerator is provided with a capillary tube having a diameter smaller than a diameter of other parts for decompressing the refrigerant introduced thereto from the condenser, and an evaporator for evaporating the refrigerant from the capillary tube to low temperature and low pressure refrigerant for absorbing heat from an inside of the refrigerator.

The refrigerator is also provided with a freezing chamber having cold air introduced thereto from the evaporator directly for maintaining a chamber temperature of about −18° C., and a refrigerating chamber having the cold air introduced thereto from the freeing chamber for maintaining a chamber temperature of about 0˜7° C.

There are a machinery room on a lower portion of a rear side of the refrigerating chamber having the compressor and the condenser mounted thereto, and a cold air supply unit in rear of the freezing chamber isolated therefrom with a rear wall thereof having a cooling fan for forced blow of the cold air from the evaporator to the freezing chamber and a defrosting heater for removing frost from a surface of the evaporator mounted thereto.

The cold air cooled down by means of heat exchange at the evaporator as the air is deprived of heat by refrigerant passes a cold air outlet in rear walls of the freezing chamber and the refrigerating chamber through the circulating duct and discharged and circulated in the refrigerator by a fan to drop temperatures of the freezing chamber and

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION Technical Problem

To solve the problems, an object of the present invention is to provide an evaporator having a duct integrated therewith, in which an evaporator having a duct integrated therewith, not individual evaporator and duct, is mounted for preventing a performance of the refrigerator from being influenced by an error of a worker, and reducing working hours.

Technical Solution

To achieve these objects and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, an evaporator having a duct integrated therewith includes an evaporator, and a circulating duct including a duct portion for circulation of cold air, and a mounting portion mounted to an inner case like one body in a state the evaporator is placed therein.

The duct portion has insertion holes in a side of a lower portion thereof for pass through of a refrigerant pipe extended from the evaporator.

In another aspect of the present invention, a refrigerator includes an inner case, a cold air supply portion having an evaporator and a fan mounted therein, and a circulating duct including a duct portion connected to the cold air supply portion for circulation of cold air, and a mounting portion mounted to the inner case like one body in a state the evaporator is placed therein.

The duct portion has insertion holes in a side of a lower portion thereof for pass through of a refrigerant pipe extended from the evaporator.

ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS

The evaporator having a duct integrated therewith permits to mount the evaporator and the duct as a time, thereby reducing working man-hours to simplify the work and performance deviation of the refrigerator.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide further understanding of the disclosure and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiments of the disclosure and together with the description serve to explain the principle of the disclosure.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 illustrates an exploded perspective view of an evaporator having a duct integrated therewith in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a perspective view of a related art evaporator having a duct individually mounted thereto;

FIG. 3 illustrates a front view of a refrigerator showing a portion having the evaporator in FIG. 2 mounted thereto, with a partial cut-away view.

MODE FOR THE INVENTION

Reference will now be made in detail to the specific embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts.

Referring to FIG. 1, the evaporator having a duct integrated therewith includes an evaporator 1 and a circulating duct 20.

The evaporator 10 is used for generating cold air, and includes a heat exchanger tube 11 having a refrigerant pipe 12 extended from a top side thereof and connected to a refrigerant pipe 12 in a refrigerator by welding.

The circulating duct 20 is mounted in a cold air supply portion 4 (see FIG. 3) located on one side of a freezing chamber for guiding the cold air from the evaporator 10 to a refrigerating chamber and/or the freezing chamber.

The circulating duct 20 includes a duct portion 30 and a mounting portion 40, wherein the duct portion 30 is mounted to a top side of the cold air supply portion 4 and extended extensively to the refrigerating chamber and/or the freezing chamber, and may have a plurality of pass through holes 31 along an outside surface.

The duct portion 30 has an enlarged portion 32 on a lower side with a slope and insertion holes 33 for pass through of the refrigerant pipe 12 of the evaporator 10.

The mounting portion 40 is connected to a bottom edge of the duct portion 30 and extended down extensively, and has a rear side of an opened box shape, a fan mounting portion 41 on an upper side for mounting a cooling fan (not shown) thereto, and an inside space for holding the evaporator 10.

Particularly, the mounting portion 40 has a cover 42 on the opened rear side for easy holding of the evaporator 10, wherein the cover 42 has mounting projections 43 at regular intervals along edges and the mounting portion 40 has mounting holes 44 in opposite sides at regular intervals in conformity with the mounting projections 43.

As another embodiment of the present invention, instead of the mounting projections 43 of the cover 42 and the mounting holes 44 of the mounting portion 40 for holding the evaporator 10, a door may be provided for rotatably opening/closing the rear side of the mounting portion 40, or other system may be provided for easy holding of the evaporator 10 within the mounting portion 40.

It is preferable that the mounting portion 40 fabricated as one module thus is mounted to a conventional inner case (not shown) which forms an inner surface of the refrigerator with conventional fastening means (screws or the like) in a state the evaporator 10 is received in and secured to the mounting portion 40.

As one embodiment, though the evaporator is shown as a fin-tube type evaporator in the drawing, having a meander of repeatedly bent copper heat exchanger tube 11 with aluminum cooling fins 13 closely inserted on an outside of the tube 11, a coaxial type or jacket type heat exchanger may be used as required.

Unexplained reference numeral 50 in the drawing denotes an accumulator for separating liquid refrigerant from gaseous refrigerant to prevent liquid back for protecting the compressor, thereby preventing turbulence of the liquid refrigerant in the evaporator.

The operation of the evaporator having a duct integrated therewith of the present invention will be described.

Referring to FIG. 1, as one embodiment of the present invention, in a state the evaporator 10 is placed in the mounting portion 40, the evaporator 10 and the circulating duct 20 are integrated by passing the mounting projections 43 on the edges of the cover 42 through the mounting holes 44 in the opposite edges of the mounting portion 40, respectively.

In this instance, the refrigerant pipe 12 extended from the top side of the evaporator 10 is passed through the insertion holes 33 in the enlarged portion 32 of the circulating duct 20 to expose the refrigerant pipe 12 to an outside of the enlarged portion 32, and welded to the refrigerant pipe 12 in an inside of the refrigerant, and finally, the evaporator 10 and the mounting portion 40 integrated as a module is mounted to an inner case of the refrigerator.

Eventually, because the evaporator 10 and the circulating duct can be mounted in the refrigerator as a mode of one component, a work load required for fastening can be reduced, significantly.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention cover the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents. 

1. An evaporator having a duct integrated therewith comprising: an evaporator; and a circulating duct including; a duct portion for circulation of cold air, and a mounting portion mounted to an inner case like one body in a state the evaporator is placed therein.
 2. The evaporator as claimed in claim 1, wherein the duct portion has insertion holes in a side of a lower portion thereof for pass through of a refrigerant pipe extended from the evaporator.
 3. The evaporator as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a cover for an opened rear side of the mounting portion for holding the evaporator.
 4. The evaporator as claimed in claim 3, wherein the cover includes mounting projections projected from edges thereof at regular intervals, and the mounting portion includes mounting holes in sides thereof in conformity with the mounting projections.
 5. A refrigerator comprising; an inner case; a cold air supply portion having an evaporator and a fan mounted therein; and a circulating duct including; a duct portion connected to the cold air supply portion for circulation of cold air, and a mounting portion mounted to the inner case like one body in a state the evaporator is placed therein.
 6. The refrigerator as claimed in claim 5, wherein the duct portion has insertion holes in a side of a lower portion thereof for pass through of a refrigerant pipe extended from the evaporator.
 7. The refrigerator as claimed in claim 5, further comprising a cover for an opened rear side of the mounting portion for holding the evaporator.
 8. The refrigerator as claimed in claim 7, wherein the cover includes mounting projections projected from edges thereof at regular intervals, and the mounting portion includes mounting holes in sides thereof in conformity with the mounting projections. 